UK economy still in a coma thanks to self defeating au...

UK economy still in a coma thanks to self defeating austerity warns Unite

25 April 2013

Today’s (25 April) meagre growth figures are no cause for celebration said Britain’s largest union, Unite, as it warned that the economy was still in a coma thanks to George Osborne’s failed handling of the economy.

The figures showed that the UK economy was still 2.6 per cent smaller than in 2008, with construction remaining 18.1 per cent and manufacturing 13.4 per cent below pre-recession levels.

Commenting, Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary, said: “Today’s figures showing miniscule growth are nothing for George Osborne to crow about. The economy is in a coma as Osborne’s failed handling of the economy propels us into a ‘lost decade’. Despite the misery of three years of cuts and falling living standards, this government has brought us back to where we were six months ago.

“George Osborne is creating a lopsided economy that relies on us being a nation that consumes rather than makes. Construction and manufacturing are taking a hammering while austerity kills confidence and the banks continue to refuse to lend. Growth cannot be powered by the service sector alone.

“As the economy flatlines ordinary families face failing living standards and a future of uncertainty. It is a stain on this government’s economic record that we have seen a fivefold increase in the numbers of people turning to food banks since it took power.

“We desperately need a plan B that jolts the economy out its comatose state and delivers prosperity, not self-defeating austerity.”